Beer dispensing apparatus



y 193.9. J. z. KORNBLATT 2,164,714

BEER DI SPENS ING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 12, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 e m Q om1 P N l J v flares ova-1w u I i I y 4, 1939- J. z. KORNBLATT 2,164,714

BEER DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 12, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJuly 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE BEER DISPENSING APPARATUSJames z. Kornblatt, Philadelphia, Pa. Application August 12, 1937,Serial No. 158,628

2 Claims. (01. a25 1) The present invention relates to beer dispensingapparatus and it relates more particularly to apparatus forrefrigerating and dispensing beer.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for refrigeratingthe air within a beer dispensing apparatus and for uniformlydistributing said refrigerated air around and about'the beerkegs andbeer conduits within said beer dispensing apparatus, whereby the beermay be maintained at a generally low and constant temperature at allpoints throughout its path of travel within said dispensing apparatusand up to the very point of departure from said apparatus.

Other objects will appear from the following detailed description,accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in theaccompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred, 20since'the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory andreliable results, although it is to be understood that the variousinstrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variouslyarranged and organized and that the in- 26 vention is not limited to theprecise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as hereinshown and described.'

Referring to the drawings in which like ref erence characters indicatelike parts.

30 Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a beer-refrigerating anddispensing bar constituting one embodiment of the present invention, asit appears from. the rear or bar tenders side thereof. I

35 Figure 2'represents a transverse sectional view taken on line 2-2 ofFigure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. I

Figure 3 represents an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of thethermally insulated bar wall,

40 showing the insulation details thereof.

Figure 4 represents a longitudinal sectiona view taken on line l4 ofFigure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing theinternal features of said bar.

45 Figure 5 represents a sectionalview taken on line 5.5 of Figure 4looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the particular embodiment of the present invention-herein shown forthe purpose ofillus- 50 tration or exemplification, the beerrefrigerating I 7 duits 28, 28.

with the customary bar-nosing I4, and a front rail l5- may be positionedin front and at the bottom of the front wall 8. Dispensing faucets I 6,I6 and l1, l1 preferably project exteriorly of said bar a minimumdistance therefrom, for rea- 5 sons which will be more fully discussedhereinbelow.

Access may be had to the interior of the barcabinet I through the seriesof vertically hinged doors l8, l8 pivotally related to the rear wall 910 of said bar-cabinet through thehinges l9, l9. Removable drip-trays20, 20 are preferably detachably mounted on the exterior of said accessdoors "3, l8 and directly beneath the dispensing faucets l6, l6 and l1,l1 and serve to collect liquid drippings and overflows.

The walls of the bar-cabinet I are thermally insulated against thepassage of heat therethrough, and preferably consist'of inner and outerspaced wood sheathing layers 2|, 2| which are externally covered withthin corrosion-proof sheet metal layers 22, 22 and are separated fromeach other by a relatively substantial layer of any suitable insulatingmaterial 23, such as rock wool. spun' glass, or the like. 25

The floor wall iii of the bar-cabinet! is preferably lined with a seriesof spaced tranverse metal strips 24, 24 on which the kegs of beer mayrest, and these metalstrips providev means for draining oif any moisturethat may accumulate. A longitudinal drain-trough 25, provided on oneside of the cabinet floor I3, serves to conduct such moisture to theexterior through the drain opening 26 provided in the bar-cabinet endwall l0, and in this fashion. the accumulation of moisture 85 within theinterior of the bar-cabinet! may be effectively prevented.

The original beer-kegs 21, 21 are preferably longitudinally disposedwithin the interior of said 7 bar cabinet 1 in spaced relationship, andmay be 40 operatively connected to their respectivedispensing faucetsl6, l6 .by, suitable flexible ,beer-con- As is moreparticularly-illustratedinFigure 2, thebeerdispensing faucets lfi, l6may be operatively secured to the rear wall 9 of the dispensing cabinetby means of a faucet-sleeve29 which ex--- 7 tends completely throughsaid rear wall .9, and a screw-threaded nu't 30 operatively associatedwith the end of said sleeve 29. The rear wall 9 may thus be securelyclampedbetween the external shoulder 3| of the faucet l6 and saidscrew-' threaded nut 39.

One end of the flexible beer conduit 28 is preferably coupled to the endof the sleeve 29 by means 56 of the coupling 32. The opposite end of theconduit 28 may be coupled to the upper end of a rigid metal tube 33,which serves to conduct the beer away from the keg in response to airpressure exerted upon the surface of the beer. Thus, compressed air froman external supply source may be fed to the interior of the kegs 21, 21through the air hose 34, the branch air hoses 35, and the keg-tappingmechanism indicated generally by the numeral 36. The branch air hoses35, 35 are preferably each provided with a shut-off valve 31, by meansof which the compressed air supply can be shut off as desired, as forinstance when changing kegs or the like. Each of these air hoses 35, 35may be operatively connected to the interior of a beer keg 21 bycoupling the discharge end of the hose 35 to the keg-tapping mechanism36 by means of a band-coupling 38 and associated bolt and nut, or by anyother suitable means. The keg-tapping mechanism 36 in turn conducts thecompressed air to the interior of the keg 21.

' In operation, the keg of beer 21 may be placed on end with the bunguppermost, and the kegtapping mechanism 36 then" may be screw-threadedlyconnected with the uppermost keg end by manually inserting the mechanism36 into the partly exposed bung hole and then rotating the handleextremities 39, 39. This serves to secure the keg-tapping mechanism 36coaxially relative to the bung, and the metal tube 33 then may bepartially inserted downwardly through the positioned guiding mechanism36 and the bung forced into the interior of the keg 21 by theapplication of several blows on the upper end of the metal tube.33. Thispermits the tube 33 to be fully extended downwardly within the keg 21,and the handle 40 then may be turned to seal the joint between the upperend of the tube 33 and the positioned guiding mechanism 36, and thusprevent the escape of compressed air therebetween. The free end of theflexible beer-conduit 28 may then be coupled to the upper end of thetube 33 and the valve 4| opened. If compressed air be now fed into thespace above the beer in the keg 21 by opening valve 31, beer will flowthrough conduit 28 whenever the dispensing faucet I6 is opened. When thekeg 21 is practically empty, the compressed air in the interior of thekeg tends to escape to the atmosphere through the beer conduit 28 andthe dispensing faucet l6. ,This escape may be checked, when noted, byfirst closing the valve 4| and then closing valve 31.

These valves may then-be reopened when the empty beer keg has beenreplaced with a full one.

The interior of the bar-cabinet I is preferably refrigerated by means ofan arrangement consisting of an air-refrigerating coil unit indicatedgenerally in Figures 4 and 5 by the numeral 42, and an air-circulatingfan 43 mounted in close proximity, to said coil, for blowing airtherefrigerant gas may flow, and these branches may be structurallyinterconnected by means of the parallel vertical fins 45, 45. Theair-refrigerating coil unit 42 may be mountedwithin a suitable housing46, supported at any desired h ht above the interior floor of thebar-cabinet 1 by the legs 41, 41.

rectly driven by an electric motor 48 mounted on a shelf 49 disposedwithin said housing 46.

The hood 50 and its associated sheet metal duct 5| cooperate with theair-refrigerating coil unit 42 and the circulating fan 43 in suchfashion as to maintain substantially all portions of the interior of theserving-bar cabinet 1 at a generally uniform minimum low temperature,and this is particularly true with respect to the beer in the kegs and.the conduits leading therefrom,

which are disposed in the vicinity of the discharge end of the duct 5|.

As indicated in Figure 4 by the multiplicity of arrows, the refrigeratedair traverses the entire length of the bar-cabinet 1, encountering andcooling all the beer-kegs placed in said bar and is then deflected bythe end cabinet-wall II and returns to the intake side of the fan 43,from which point it is again propelled through the lattice-work of thecoil unit 42, where it is again refrigerated, and discharged from theduct 5|. The refrigerated air discharged from the duct 5| completelysurrounds the beer kegs 21, 21, the beer-conduits 28, 28, and each andevery portion of the path taken by the beer during the dispensingthereof (with the sole exception of the sleeves 29 extending through thecabinet wall 9, and the short length of internal conduit disposed withinthe dispensing faucets l6, I6 which project beyond the exterior of therear cabinet wall 8). In this fashion, the beer may be refrigerated atall points along its travel, from and including its supply source, up tothe very point of discharge to the atmosphere, by a constant flow ofrefrigerated air, and variations in beer temperatures may be completelyeliminated.

Additional untapped kegs 52, 52 (only two of which are shown in Figure4) may be stored within the bar-cabinet 1 and preliminarilyrefrigerated, so as to be immediately available to replace kegs 21, 21when emptied. In this way, no time need be lost in lowering thetemperature of a fresh keg of beer to that best suited for dispensingpurposes, and moreover, the beer may be kept refrigerated at all times,thus preserving its full flavor.

If desired, food articles 53 also may be stored within the refrigeratorbar-cabinet 1.

Ice cubes may be conveniently formed with an ice making unit 54 which ispreferably disposed beneath the main air-refrigerating unit. Thisice-making unit 54 may consist of a series of hollow metal shelves 55,55 within which may be disposed the parallel horizontal branches 56, 56of an independent freezing coil. This freezing coil is separate anddistinct from the airrefrigerating coil 42, but may be operativelyconnected to the same compressor and condenser to which thisair-refrigerating coil unit 42 is connected. The ice-cube trays 51, 51may be placed upon these shelves 55, 55 and readily removed when needed.

Carbonated and uncarbonated drinking water may also be refrigerated anddispensed from this same refrigerator bar-cabinet I by disposingsuflicient lengths of waters-bearing conduit 83, 63 within the interiorof the refrigerated bar cabinet l, and terminating these conduits atthe'water dispensing faucets IT. IT. The length of water conduit 63exposed to the refrigerated interior of the bar cabinet I shouldbeadequate inereinabove described refrigerator bar-cabinet to vents theformation of condensate on the glass surfaces 58, 58, Electricilluminating means 62 Y may be provided-interiorly of the bar-cabinet inorder to facilitate the observation of the cam net interior.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms. withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it istherefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in allrespects. as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had tothe appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicatethe scope of the invention.

Havingthus described the invention what is hereby claimed as new anddesired to be secured by Letters. Patent, is: r

1. Beer-dispensing apparatus comprising a thermally insulatedserving-bar cabinet, abeerdispensing faucet mounted on said cabinetextee riorly= thereof and having its inlet-end extending "thereinto,"said serving-bar cabinet having a Qby a\ beer-conduit, means disposedwithin said will be uniformly refrigerated at its source andalong itspath of travel by the continuous circulation of refrigerated air aroundand about said keg and conduit. i

2. In a thermally insulated serving-bar cabinot having a chamber forreceiving a key of beer adapted to be operatively connected to adispensing faucet mounted on said cabinet, an air-refrigerating coilunitdtransversely mounted within said chamber near one end thereof andin spaced relation to some of the walls thereof, an electrically drivenfan operatively disposed immediately behind said air-refrigerating coilunit for driving the air in said chamber through the branches of saidcoil unit and in the general direction of said beer-keg, a hoodoperatively positioned against that side of said air-refrigcrating coilunit facing said beer-keg, and an air-duct leading from said hood anddischarging' at a point substantially remote from said air-refrigeratingcoil unit and in the vicinity of said beer keg, whereby the beer in saidservingbar cabinet will be uniformly refrigerated by a forced draft ofrefrigerated air.

JAMES z. KORNBLATI'.

